Saudi Arabia arrests 100 men for behaving like women
Saudi Arabian security police arrested more than 100 men on March 10 at a private party held in a rented hall in Jeddah. The government-affiliated newspaper Al-Wifaq reported they were dancing and "behaving like women." Approximately two weeks later a Jeddah court, meeting in a closed session with defense attorneys excluded, sentenced 31 of the men to six months to one year in prison, also receiving 200 lashes each for unreported offenses. Four others received two years' imprisonment and 2,000 lashes. Police released more than 70 men not long after their initial arrest probably because someone intervened on their behalf, only to be summoned later to a local police station and informed they'd each spend a year in jail. Human Rights Watch and others agree, after unfair trials for reputed homosexual conduct, Saudi Arabia then advertised its contempt for the basic rights to privacy, fair trials and freedom from torture." Reuters Alertnet
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